Obama: "My Muslim Faith"

Gaffe machine strikes again.

Now, I'm not actually suggesting that Obama is a Muslim or subscribes to any Muslim views. Certainly, this clip is too short to let us know what was being discussed, but I get the sense he meant "John McCain hasn't accused me of being a Muslim." Unfortunately, his mouth got the better of him and something unexpected came out:

"You're absolutely right that John McCain has not, uh, talked about my Muslim faith."

He had to be corrected by Stephanopoulos.

About the debates: I'm looking forward to them, but let's not set the bar too low. We run the risk of making the same mistake Democrats made about Palin last week. After all, he did alright in the Democratic primary debates. And he'll be debating McCain who has had some good nights and some bad.

On the bright side, there are differences between now and the Democratic primary debates. Back then he was winning and people like Joe Biden were still marveling at how clean and articulate he is. There were very few genuine policy differences between the Democratic candidates. Now he has to live up to the myth he's created for himself. His confidence has been badly shaken up. And all the flip-flops he made right after Clinton dropped out have left him open to attack.

Still, if McCain goes into the debates winning in the polls, his strategy must be to maintain the status quo. Nothing fancy, nothing risky. A boring debate would almost be preferable to high drama. On the other side, if Obama goes to the debates desperate to recover the lead, expect him to be dancing all over the place, taking wild shots, and trying to score points.

The New Mantra [Special Guest Poster Barack Obama]: Now, I'm going to try to scare you. I'm going to tell you all sorts of things about myself. I'm going to tell you that I consort with terrorists, that I don't look like those other guys on the dollar bills. Oh, and did I mention, I'm a Muslim?

posted by Gabriel Malor at 02:02 PM

| Access Comments